Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Honda gave Honda Performance Development a great start to the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
Speaking following the action, Dixon said:
The first session was a little messy. “The session ran really long, an hour and 15 minutes, which was good. A couple sets of tires for most of the field. We ended up at the top, which is a nice way to start the weekend. Now the tough part is trying to stay there.
The Iceman set a fastest time of 01:01.6145s to end the session ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta in the No.26 Gainbridge Honda.
Alex Palou was third fastest giving Ganassi valuable data to work from while in his first race session as an Andretti driver, Kyle Kirkwood was fourth in the No.27 AutoNation Honda.
It was a great start to the season for Simon Pagenaud and Meyer Shank Racing as the 6French man ended the day in fifth place in the No.60 AutoNation Sirius XM Honda.
David Malukas showed great pace in the No.18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports as he ended the session in seventh with a time of 01:01.8613s.
Malukas ended the day ahead of Team Penske’s defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Will Power and his teammate Scott McLaughlin who was tenth while it was a great session for rookie Marcus Armstrong who ended the day in ninth place.